Sonos has stated all stations that are already working in the app will be moved to Sonos Radio and that they are working on a solution for this.

Major disappointment. Wifi connectivity and versatility is what sets Sonos apart, imo—and that includes direct url streaming. Being directly connected to the internet, Sonos’ reliance on third parties and workarounds has always baffled me. This is one of those things that should just work—natively.

I hope any fix comes soon. I am on the cusp of upgrading all smart speakers and this situation will send me down a different path. 

@enidcoleslaw13  and @Runjoey .  Exactly what is it you think is happening that gives you a problem?  I can’t help thinking that you have misunderstood something.  Can you point me to an announcement that clarifies this?

They are talking about the deprecation of TuneIn (Classic), as right now that is the only way to play custom URLs added to the Sonos system.

However TuneIn really has nothing to do with this feature, it was simply a place in the UX to expose user’s custom streams. The urls are still stored in the system, and Sonos need to add back some UX to list and play them.

Thanks for clarifying, @controlav .

In which case, my question to @Runjoey and @enidcoleslaw13 is “for which radio streams have you manually added custom URLs to your Sonos system?  If the answer is “none” then you are not affected 

@enidcoleslaw13  - even if your husband’s favourite station is affected by this (which I doubt), if he can play the station on a computer or mobile device then he can use Bluetooth to play to Sonos Era speakers..  So why would you do something as stupid as returning your Sonos speakers?

@Runjoey .  Sonos has always used URLs to fetch streams directly from the internet.  TuneIn has just provided a URL lookup facility.  Your post makes no sense.

Yes, they have always, but do they still? If the answer is yes, please provide the steps. I have been unsuccessful so far.

Hi.  First, apologies for the unnecessarily unpleasant tone of my reply, which I edited, but those changes “crossed” with your quoting of my reply.

Can you explain what exactly it is that you have lost, or believe you are going to lose?

While some independent radio stations will allow you to stream directly from a browser (and yes, that could be cast to newer Sonos models), many provide a stream-direct URL.  Previously, these URLs could be added to Sonos Favorites (or… may have been My Stations?).  Nonetheless, a mobile device was only used to control the speaker.  Once the music was playing, it was playing directly from the wifi signal.

I won’t pretend to understand what goes on under the hood, but TuneIn was required to add a URL.  In fact, Sonos’ own support still shows TuneIn as part of the setup.

TuneIn has dropped support and now this can’t be done:  https://support.sonos.com/en-us/article/add-an-internet-radio-station-to-sonos 

I can cast to any bluetooth speaker.  I get it.  However, that is not what I want.  I simply like the idea of a corded electric speaker playing music without have to use electricity from a second device to support it.  Anal?  Maybe, but I like what I like.  It wouldn’t be so bad, but I used to be able to do this–and now I can’t.  (Again, we are talking about streaming a URL–I know there are tons of other music services available and I appreciate that.)

On the page where my connected services are listed (in the Sonos app), a simple “Add URL” button would be fantastic.  The interface would allow us to nickname the stream and access it with any of our other services. Or as 106rallye mentioned, Sonos’ may have something in the works in the ‘Sonos Radio’ interface.

I can still add radio station URLs to my fully up to date Sonos system.  What am I missing here?

To elaborate on my previous post:

1.  As ​​​@controlav commented, this facility has never had anything to do with TuneIn.  It was just a convenient slot to put the info in.  It is and has always been a direct URL that Sonos uses to get the stream tthat is made available by the station.
2. I added a URL a few minutes ago by following the instructions in the document linked by @Runjoey (which is how I have always done it)  I used the desktop app but the facility also still seems to be in the mobile app.
3. The created station still appears in “My Radio Stations” under TuneIn.  It still has absolutely B****r-all to do with TuneIn,
4. The station can from there be added to Favourites.  It was always thus and still is.

What are the grounds for believing this is no longer possible, or that this is going to change?  The answer cannot be that “TuneIn has dropped support” for this, as @Runjoey suggested, because TuneIn has never supported it.

Well, it’s not what you’re missing, I t’s what I’m missing. When I select TuneIn, I no longer have an option for “My Radio Stations”.

Shouldn’t there be a TuneIn old (which is indeed going away) and a TuneIn new, that does not allow added streams?

I’m speculating. Try this:

Since this is a newly setup system, you probably don’t have any “My Radio Stations” setup in TuneIn and there is no reason to display this. Give the SONOS controller a reason to display this by playing an arbitrary TuneIn station, then Add Station to My Sonos.  Now you may be able to display My Radio Stations and add your station’s URL

You are correct, but nonetheless, as you say, the old is going away (and with it, the only method we know of, to add a direct URL.

No luck, but thank you — I appreciate the suggestion. That was a good idea…. giggling the cable, so to speak. 

Personally, I feel this is a money issue. And companies have to make money—I get it. But we’re transitioning into an era where, when you buy a product, you’re limited in what you can do with it. Your freedoms are within the constraints of the ongoing “service”.

Everyone wants a piece of the pie. I’m guessing that with streaming a direct URL, someone is losing a nickel and they don’t like it. Solution: get rid of the URL option or, at least make it difficult. In the end, the consumer loses. 

I just happen to have three URLs I like to stream. I donate money to these independent stations because they find and play music I can’t hear anywhere else. It’s that simple.

This is my uneducated (or “blind,” as stated above) opinion and it certainly may be wrong.

You can no longer add TuneIn (Classic) to any system, and if it isn’t there, you can’t play your custom urls. If its already there, well you’re fine, until such time as Sonos force-remove it or TuneIn disable the old endpoint.

You are correct. I think this is what others may not understand as they may still be on TuneIn’s old interface within the Sonos iOS app. For those with TuneIn’s new (and improved???) interface, the option to add a direct URL appears to have been removed. (And if anyone has found this Easter egg in the *new* interface, do tell.)

You can use my iOS app to add custom URLs to your Sonos system, if you don’t have TuneIn (Classic) on your system. Or use the Desktop Sonos app which has it on the main menu instead of in the TuneIn UX tree.

What is “my iOS app”? Maybe just a typo, but was curious if you meant it was a product you developed yourself that solves this issue  

Haven’t had a desktop in a few years now, so I’m limited to the iOS app (which is where the current issue lies). 

The reason I came to Sonos was precisely the ability to add my own radio streams. Ok, the streams were partially moved to the Favorites. So far, so … not too bad.

First of all, there is no way to edit a Favorites, second, there is a limitation on the number of Favorites (it seems that the limit is 70 but not for sure). Time passing, the URLs will change, and we will lose our preferred streams without any provision to correct the situation.

The net result is that the reason I bought a Sonos system is going to be the reason to buy a similar system from the competition.

The Sonos service which is mandatory could be the solution since its installation is enforced. I cannot understand all the talks one can find on this forum. Sonos must move this feature either in the Sonos service or elsewhere. Period.

Agree . The trend over the last decade from many service providers is “We will decide what the consumer wants—we know better than they do.”  I love technology and appreciate AI—in many cases, it helps discover new music (or whatever the media is). But at the end of the day, I know what I like and having control taken away is VERY frustrating.

So, not for the sound quality, build quality, multiroom sync, extensive choice of radio stations (although clearly not every one) the large range of streaming services, HT products etc etc.  Well fair enough we all have our priorities.

Which competitor multiroom systems are you considering which offer this feature?

Maybe they will.

My app is just that, called “Phonos Plus” on iOS. It allows you to add custom URLs to your Sonos system, and unlike the official app actually validates they work before adding them.